Mail-box holder.



W. LARKIN.

MAIL BOX HOLDER. APPLIOATIONIIILED JULY 13, 1912.

Patnted Feb. 13, 1913.

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WALTER LABKIN, EMMETT, IDAHO.

MAIL-BOX roman.

Specification of ietters Patent.

Application filed July 13, i912. Serial No. 709,183.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, VVALTER' LnnKIN, a

citizen of the United .States, residing at Emmett, in the county of Canyon and State of Idaho, have invented new and useful Improvements in Mail-Box Holders, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in mail box holders or supports for rural districts.

In carrying out my invention it is my intention to provide a support for one or for a number of mail boxes which is so arranged that the said box or boxes will be sustained at a desired height to permit of a carrier delivering the mail to the said boxes or rectiving mail therefrom without necessitating the delay and inconvenience of the carrier leaving his wagon.

I also propose-to provide a support for mail boxes which embodies a normally horizontally arranged arm, the same having the mail box attached thereto, and the said arm being pivoted and adapted under pressure,

.to tilt to permit of the contents of a box flowing therefrom to the receiving sack of the carrier.

With the above recited objects in view, and others which will be more apparent as the description progresses, the invention resides in the novel construction, combination and operative arrangement of parts set forth in the following specification and falling within the scope of the appended claim.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a mail box holder constructed in accordance with the present invention. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view taken approximately on the line 22 of Fig. 1, one of the box holding members being indicated by the dotted lines in its tilted position.

It is wellknown that in rural districts mail boxes are fastened upon posts of varying heights, and in a majority of instances where a number of mail boxes are arranged at a certain locality, no attention is paid to the particular position of the several boxes, it being merely the purpose of the owner of the box to arrange his box at the mail receiving and delivering point, and consequently the supports of the box not only vary in heights, but are arranged in clusters one behind the other, or one spaced quite a distance from the other. With such an arrangement it will be apparent that the carrier is placed at a disadvantage in collecting or delivering mail as it is absolutely necessary for him to descend from h s fwagon and travel to the various positions :of the several boxes. Furthermore, the boxes belng arranged irrespective of the height of the support, the carrier is forced to stoop to open some of the boxes which, .together with the disadvantage previouslyset forth, as the cause of a great inconvenience as well as a delay to the'carrler.

It is the primary object of the present in,-

vention to overcome the above recited ob jections, and in a device constructed in ac-v cordance with my invention I provide a main support or post 1, the samebeing positioned at a suitable point adjacent the roadso as not to interfere with the passing of vehicles but which is located conveniently to the mail carrier. The support has its upper extremity provided with a vertically projecting cross sectionally rounded member forming a shaft 2, the said shaft adapted to be received within a collar 3 provided upon a substantially cup-shaped head 4.

The portion of the shaft 2 projecting above the collar 3 is formedwith a suitable opening, the said. opening being adapted to receive some suitable lock or retaining member, such as a cotter pin 5, whereby the head 4t is sustained upon the shaft 2 andpostl.

The hollow cup-shaped head 4:" is provided at spaced intervals with outwardly radiating channeled members 6, the sides or flanges of which having ears 7 arranged adacent the1r outer edges, while the base of each of the said members is rounded or flared downwardly at its said outer edge, as indicated by the numeral 8. The upper edge of the head 4 is recessed to correspond with the grooves or lower wall provided by the channeled members 6, and each of the said members 6, at its juncture with the hea d, is formed with a yoke 9.

Arranged within each of the channeled members 6 and passing through each of the yokes 9, is an arm 10, and each of the said arms is pivoted as at 11, between the ears 7 of the members 6. Sustained upon the outer extremity of each of the arms 10 is a mail box 12, each of the said mail boxes having its outer face provided with a door 13 which is adapted to open outwardly so as to provide no obstruction for the outflow of the contents of the box when the said door is opened and the arm 10 to which Patented Feb. 18,1913;

it is attached, is tilted, in a manner which will be presently set forth. Arranged upon each of the arms 10 is a depending flexible member 14, such as a chain, and the said flexible member has its lower end provided with what I term a handle-grip 15. The inner ends of the arms 10 project a suitable distance beyond the yo-kes 9 and over the substantially cup-shaped head 4 of the device. Connected with the head 4 and with the inwardly extending ends of each of the arms 10, are helical springs 16, the said SPI'lIlgS exerting a tension between the arms and the head so as to normally sustain the said arms in a substantially horizontal position with relation to the head, irrespective of the weight of the box which is attached to the arms.

The device, as heretofore set forth, is adapted to be arranged in a position whereby the carrier may deliver mail to the boxes or receive mail therefrom without necessitating his descension from the mail wagon, and it will be readily noted that by opening the door 18 of the mail boxes and by exerting a pressure upon the flexible element 14, the arm 10 to which the mail box is attached, will be tilted or swung upon its pivot against the tension of the spring 16, to cause the contents of the box to fall by gravity from the box to the mail receiving bag of the carrier. Again, it will be noted that by grasping the flexible element 14 each of the boxes carried by the device may in turn be brought into a convenient position to receive mail or to deliver mail to the carrier without causing the carrier any inconvenience or delay.

From the above description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, the simplicity of the device as well as its advantages will, it is thought, be perfectly apparent to those skilled in the art to which such inventions appertain, without further detailed description.

Having thus described the invention what I claim is In a device for the purpose set forth, a post, a vertically extending shaft arranged upon the post, a substantially cup-shapedhead provided with a collar which is arranged upon the shaft, means for retaining the collar upon the shaft, the head having its upper edge provided with radiating channeled members, the side flanges of the said members adjacent their outer ends be ing each provided with an ear, the lower wall of each of the said U-shaped members having its outer portion inclined downwardly, yokes for the channeled members,

arms arranged within the channeled mem- Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

